Safwan and Aisha

Is the story of Prophet Muhammad’s child‑wife Aisha having an affair true?

Aisha (12-13) and Safwan (21) returned after spending an entire night in the desert.

Some soldiers of Islam spread the claim that they had a physical relationship. There is no way to know whether they were together or separate. Since neither Aisha nor Safwan said anything themselves, these matters remained their personal issues. Aisha was actually a victim; giving her any false accusation becomes speaking against a victim. Rather, Aisha protested against many inhumane aspects of Islam whenever it was possible for her.

I read the long hadiths — Sahih Bukhari 4141 and Sahih Muslim 1612 — several times. I tried to understand what actually happened. I am giving some clues, not conclusions. You can decide for yourselves what might have happened.

They remained separated from the jihadist army for the entire night (from midnight until the next day at noon) and returned the following day. It is possible they were separate, it is possible they were together, it is possible they did not have a physical relationship, or that they did. There is no way to know.

Before the rules of veiling were introduced, they had met each other; they knew each other from before. Notice their ages — 12 or 13 and 21. Prophet Muhammad was 57–58 at that time. According to Sunan Abu Dawud 2459, it is known that Safwan was not happy in his personal life with his wife.

When the jihadist army set out again at midnight, Aisha went outside to relieve herself, and upon returning she noticed her necklace was missing. She stayed behind to search for it, and she had become skeletal and exhausted from not eating properly for many days. Safwan ibn al‑Mu’attal, who was at the rear of the caravan, found her sleeping in the morning. He placed Aisha on his camel and brought her back to the main army around noon the next day.

After the jihadist group returned to Medina, a faction of the Islamic army told Prophet Muhammad that his child‑wife Aisha and Safwan had engaged in sexual relations. The leader of this group was Abdullah ibn Ubayy. The incident became widely known in Medina. Islamic sources describe this as a false accusation.

This incident or accusation involving the Prophet’s most beloved child‑wife deeply distressed and troubled Muhammad. Revelation stopped coming; for almost a month he remained in deep anxiety because no revelation came. According to Sahih Bukhari 4141, he even began considering divorcing Aisha, and Ali advised him to do so. During this time he consulted his companions and went to Aisha, telling her that if she had committed any sin, she should repent to Allah. The hadith says that revelation never came when he was in the rooms of his other wives; it came only when he was in Aisha’s bed. Again, during the wedding of his daughter‑in‑law Zaynab to the Prophet after her husband’s death, when a companion expressed desire to marry Aisha, revelation came immediately. After he declared sexual slaves forbidden for himself to please his wives, revelation came again saying that sexual slaves were lawful for him. So what does it mean that revelation did not come for such a long time — does it suggest that revelation depended on Muhammad’s personal mood and needs? You may think about that yourselves.

After about 30 days, verses 11–21 of Surah An‑Nur were revealed to Muhammad. These verses explicitly declared Aisha’s innocence and described the accusation as a “great sin” and a “lie.”

After this, Muhammad ordered that three individuals — Mistah, Hammana bint Jahsh, and Hassan ibn Thabit — be given 80 lashes each for the crime of accusing someone of adultery without four witnesses. The main accused and leader, Abdullah ibn Ubayy, was not punished. Ali, who had also doubted Aisha and advised the Prophet to divorce her, was not punished either. One of those who was punished was later rewarded with a female slave. The incident is quite mysterious.

Critics say — if four or more people had been punished, it would have been established that Aisha and Safwan had indeed had a physical relationship or committed zina. Because then the requirement of four witnesses would have been fulfilled, and Prophet Muhammad would have lost Aisha. He did not want Aisha to be removed from his life.

At that time, adultery was not very uncommon. Especially since jihadists stayed away from home for long periods, there are examples of their wives keeping other men in their homes. See Sunan al‑Tirmidhi 2712. Aisha did not always accompany the Prophet on military expeditions; whichever wife’s name came up in the lottery would go with him. So Aisha also stayed back in Medina during many expeditions. Is it unrealistic to think that Safwan might also have been in Medina at those times?

I have simply narrated the sequence of events. You may think for yourselves. Islamic apologetics have separate justifications for everything. Apologists have no light of their own; they cannot walk without the light of excuses. So ignore their words and think with your own reasoning.